Vandals wreck football facilities in Aughnacloy
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
The football changing rooms at Aughnacloy Playing Fields which were damaged in an act of vandalism. SC4683
AUGHNACLOY has been relatively free of vandalism and anti-social behaviour over the years.
Being a close knit community where respect for people and property had survived, there was always the belief that these sentiments would continue.
However, in recent months problems normally associated with larger towns has come to plague the citizens of Aughnacloy.
The most depressing part of this upsurge in anti-social behaviour is that the community has little in the way of recreational facilities, and what comes their way, courtesy of Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council, the vast majority of residents appreciate.
To see these football facilities in the town's playing fields wrecked and destroyed beyond use in an incident last week is hard to understand, let alone accept, according to locals.
The local football club, Aughnacloy United, plays in the Mid-Ulster league and has struggled to keep football as a viable activity for young players. The team uses the Council playing fields at Carnteel Road and for some years have used a portacabin as a changing room.
The pitch and mobile are used by Caledon Football Club for their home games, playing on alternative Saturdays for Aughnacloy.
One can well understand the feeling of anger and frustration for the club to discover that the mobile had been broken into on Wednesday evening of last week and totally wrecked.
All the windows were smashed, interior doors smashed to pulp, the showers unit pulled out and wrecked out of all recognition - and all carried out in a fit of wanton destruction.
The most difficult thing to understand is that this destruction was carried out by teenagers or young people, depriving other young people the opportunity to use a changing room at a football pitch.
The destruction did not end there. In the nearby Eco-Park, a wonderful facility for all ages, over a dozen trees, recently planted, were pulled out by the root, requiring a fair effort; fencing around the pond was smashed and two bins, which cost a considerable amount of money, were badly damaged.
Stated one local resident: "The persons who did this must feel very proud of their achievements in smashing property which others need. They must feel proud of their contribution to society."
Added the local: "This week we remember the young soldiers, many of them teenagers, who gave their lives so that we should enjoy living in a free world. With freedom comes responsibility and with responsibility comes accountability. Will these young people and their families pay for the cost to repair the changing rooms and Eco-Park?"
